News

Munich, 22 February 2011. At this year’s European Film Market,Beta Cinema signed over 35 deals, making it one of its most successful Berlin markets of all time. Sales continued to be brisk in the second half of the EFM as well.Starring Moritz Bleibtreu in the lead role, Wolfgang Murnberger’s Austrian tragicomedy MY BEST ENEMY was acquired by Neue Visionen in Germany. The film was also sold to Scandinavia (Future Film), Israel (Gilad) and Switzerland (Cineworx). An U.S. sale is in final negotiation.ALMANYA, the Berlinale audience hit by the two sisters Yasemin and Nesrin Samdereli, was sold to Italy (Theodora Film), Spain (Golem), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Turkey (Medyavizyon) and Israel (Lev Cinemas). Talks with French distributors are also well under way.Oscar-nominated Polish director Agnieszka Holland’s new film IN DARKNESS, which is still in post-production, was presold to the U.S. (Sony Picture Classics), Spain (Alta) and Israel (Lev Cinema). Contracts are also approaching finalization in France, Great Britain and Australia/New Zealand. In IN DARKNESS, it is 1943, the Polish town of Lvov is occupied by the Nazis. Poverty grows. One day the selfish thief and burglar Leopold Socha encounters a group of Jewish refugees – and hides them for money in the labyrinth of the town’s sewers. At first only interested in lucrative business the whole thing reaches more and more Socha’s conscience. The Polish small-time crook makes up his mind and finally risks his own life for the refugees…Swimming on a wave of success is Augusti Villaronga’s BLACK BREAD, which was awarded nine Spanish Oscars (Goyas) last week, the very first Catalan film ever to be so honored. France’s Alfama Films and Portugal’s Clapfilmes secured the rights, and a contract with a Japanese distributor is in final negotiations.THE DAY I WAS NOT BORN, the international award-winning feature film debut of Florian Cossen, also continued its success story. The film was sold to Brazil (Artfim SA) and Norway (AS Fidalgo), and contracts are being prepared for Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. Talks with a French distributor for one of the most successful German feature films of the past year, VINCENT WANTS TO SEA, are also about to lead to a contract.John Turturro’s PASSIONE, a musical homage to Naples, was sold in Poland to Docreview as well as to Palace Films in Australia and New Zealand, which also obtained A QUIET LIFE starring Toni Servillo.